<h2>



July 2002 JUG Meeting:</h2>

&nbsp;





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<h3>

Triangle Java Users Group Presents:</h3></center>



<p align="center"><font size="5">Reporting to Excel using Java and/or XML, Jakarta POI and

Cocoon</font><br>

</p>

<p align="center"><b>presented by</b>

<p align="center"><b>Andrew C. Oliver</b> of <b>SuperLink Software</b></p>

<p align="center">Monday, July 15, 2002

<br>6:30 PM - 9:00 PM

<p align="center">LOCATION: MCNC Auditorium



<br>3021 Cornwallis Road



<br>Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

<p align="center">919.248.1800

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<br>

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<blockquote>

<p>

<b>Abstract:</b><br>

Custom reporting systems have been problematic for most companies.  In

Java, while outputting data in HTML or some other format is generally

easy, most accountants and business professionals expect to output in

Excel.  Generally, Java-based output to Excel has consisted of

outputting to comma-separated text, or HTML.  Excel 2000 introduced an

XML format that most users are unfamiliar with, but it is not backward

compatible with Excel 97, and tends to cause Excel to crash on large

files and causes performance problems.  Commercial APIs for outputting

to Excel are very expensive and many utilize native code that only works

on Microsoft platforms.

</p>

  <p>



The Jakarta POI project's HSSF API is the first freely available

pure-Java port of the Excel 97/2000/XP file format.  In this discussion

we'll look at how to use the Jakarta POI project's HSSF API.  We'll also

look at how to create dynamic reports from Apache Cocoon 2 project with

XML and XSLT.  And if there is time, we'll discuss the future of the

Jakarta POI project including support for Word and Powerpoint and

possibly the sadistic innards of the formats.

</p>

  <p>

  <b>About Speaker:</b><br>

Andrew C. Oliver (<a href="http://www.trilug.org/~acoliver">http://www.trilug.org/~acoliver</a>) is a Java developer

for SuperLink Software (<a href="http://www.superlinksoftware.com">http://www.superlinksoftware.com</a>) who serves as

the Triangle Java User's group's speaker coordinator and secretary.

He's the founder of the Jakarta POI project, a committer for Jakarta

Lucene, and a developer on the Cocoon 2 project.  He's got about six

years of professional software development experience, 4 of which have

been in Java.  When web application development gets too dull he likes

digging into low level binary formats and making them sing (for fun).

 Oh and recently he's been working on trying to port D to GCC.  (see

<a href="http://www.opend.org">http://www.opend.org</a> and <a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/gcc/gcc.html">http://www.gnu.org/software/gcc/gcc.html</a>)

</p>

</blockquote>





<hr ALIGN="CENTER">



<h3>

AGENDA:</h3>

    6:30 &#150; 7:00 PM &#151; Meet, Talk, Snacks

<br>7:00 &#150; 7:15 &#151; JUG Business and Announcements

<br>7:15 &#150; 8:15 &#151; Presentation

<br>8:15 &#150; 8:30 &#151; Discussion with Presenter

<br>9:00 &#151; Doors close

<p></p>



<hr ALIGN="CENTER">



<h3>

ADMISSION:</h3>

Paid-up members of TriJUG may attend without additional charge.<br>

Non members are asked to pay $5 per meeting.  But, if you are either a full

time student or unemployed, then we ask only $2 per meeting.<br>

<p></p>

<hr ALIGN="CENTER">

<h3>

DIRECTIONS to MCNC:</h3>



<b>From Raleigh:</b>



<br>Take I-40 West toward Durham and Chapel Hill. You will enter RTP. Where



I-40 splits, bear right onto the Durham Freeway North (Highway 147). Take



the Cornwallis Road Exit. At the end of the exit ramp, bear right - cross



back over the Freeway. MCNC is located approximately 3/4 mile on the right.



<p><b>From Durham:</b>



<br>Get on the Durham Freeway South (Highway 147). Take the Cornwallis



Road exit. At the end of the ramp, bear right - MCNC is approximately 3/4



mile on right.



<p>Click here for <a href="http://trijug.org/mcnc/?/directions.html">map with



directions</a>, or visit the <a href="http://trijug.org/mcnc/?/gotomcnc.html">MCNC



web site</a>.



<p>






